Taylor Swift Is a Threat to the Right—and So Is Travis Kelce
The right is worried about Taylor Swift—and they are right to be. Her influence on millions of young women is legendary, and the way she chooses to wield this influence could make a difference in a close presidential election this November, not to mention electoral battles in years to come.
The right is so worried that numerous conspiracy theories about Swift’s romance with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce as a pro-Biden agenda have circulated on talk radios, Fox News, and all over social media. The most prominent of these theories alleges collusion between the “deep state” and the NFL that will culminate in Swift’s endorsement of the incumbent president at the Super Bowl.
But there’s another reason MAGA should fear Swift’s cultural power in this volatile political moment—one that has attracted very little attention amidst the almost non-stop media coverage of the musical sensation and pop icon. It has to do with Kelce, and the impact he could possibly have on young men.
Much of the political media’s coverage of the fairytale romance between the pop star and the football hero has focused, understandably, on Swift’s potential impact on the young women’s vote. It has been widely reported that the number of 18-year-olds who registered to vote on Voter Registration Day in 2023 doubled from the previous year, after Swift posted a link to vote.org on her Instagram story.
Swift decided to go public with her political affinities in 2018 during a campaign for the U.S. Senate in her home state of Tennessee. During this campaign, she endorsed the Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen, who ultimately lost to the to Marsha Blackburn, the sitting Republican senator. Swift is also a vocal supporter of women’s and LGBTQ rights, as well as racial justice.
Swift is the “biggest and most influential endorsement target” this campaign season, according to The New York Times. “She endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 … and fund-raising appeals from [her] could be worth millions of dollars for Mr. Biden.”
But what should we make of Kelce’s potential effect on the political identity and choices of young men? Could it be that Kelce himself is one of the reasons why the right has been driven to adopting outlandish theories about Swift-Kelce?
Kelce has not talked publicly about his candidate preferences or party affiliation, but evidence suggests that he leans left.
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Part 2: At my wedding, my grandfather handed me an old passbook. My father quickly took it and said, “That bank shut down in the ’80s—he’s just confused.”
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